Still Remains "Of Love and Lunacy" (Roadrunner)
By Taylor Green
Wednesday. Jun 22, 1:25 AM
Passionate metalcore that's full of surprises.

Roadrunner did some remodeling earlier in the year, signing bands such as Trivium, 3 Inches Of Blood, Faktion, The Agony Scene, Dresden Dolls, and Still Remains. And even with such different young sounds being added to the label, they managed to pull out the brightest in a new generation of metal. Of Love and Lunacy marks one of the many phases of Roadrunner, and the debut of Still Remains.

The album begins like an explosion of metalcore: very passionate, very standard of the genre. But Still Remains set themselves apart from the metalcore norm as the album progresses, particularly with the tracks "White Walls" and the first single, "The Worst is Yet to Come." Still Remains embark on a traditionally metalcore approach, but they throw in synth elements and large amount of melodic death, spitting out an album which sounds almost like Bleeding Through meets modern Soilwork with a fair intake of smooth clean vocals. Still Remains don't sound like anyone in particular, but there's a bunch of deep-rooted influences in their music. To me the album is much more Swedish death than it is metalcore, but there's no denying that there's elements of both styles in the music. And the album comes together the way a debut album should: a grouping of songs made for the band members. These guys throw out a bunch of typical norms of metal genres and make a little niche of their own, which is unique and pleasing. If there's any problem here, it's that they're maybe too influence-oriented. Still, though, the combination of brutal verses and beautiful choruses siphon the album’s name perfectly: a collection of love and lunacy unfurled into almost 50 minutes of solid musicianship and awesome songwriting.

I can't say enough about the band's ability to infuse the synths into what would otherwise be pretty typical melodic death. In tracks like "Cherished" and "I Can Revive Him With My Own Hands," keyboards become just as important to the storming sound as any of the other elements. In the latter, the keyboards sound like the holler of angels raining down their majestic voices from the heavens, complimenting the lyrical content of the song perfectly. It seems that around every corner there's a surprise waiting to be found with this album, and it makes the listening experience enjoyable and exciting every time. And with an interlude like "With What You Have," an all piano piece, it shows what this band thinks of their music in terms of its balance between beauty and the beast.

Like the other bands that have recently been added to Roadrunner's line-up, Still Remains are part of an elite class of artists that is fusing tradition with evolution. Of Love and Lunacy is the perfect introduction for a band with so much pent-up energy and influences waiting to be spat out onto the ears of the metal world. This album trickles down track by track until it consumes you. The next thing you know, it's been a week and all you can do is listen to Still Remains on repeat. Of Love and Lunacy is as fresh as it is infectious.

Highlights: "White Walls," "Recovery," "I Can Revive Him With My Own Hands."
www.stillremains.com
www.roadrunnerrecords.com

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Taylor Green

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